the final brief appearance there. and the final end tothebenedictpapacycomes four hours from now when the doors of gandolfo close and they leave. let's go down to keir simmons covering it all for us. kear, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, savannah, good morning, the saints looking down on the square have not seen a day like this in medieval times. in the papal palace, over my shoulder here, the pope, as you say, has been meeting were his cardinals, tells them, i'll be with you in prayer. dawn across rome. this city has seen more than 260 pontiffs, only two popes passed in the last thousand years have left like this. the cardinals, princes of the church, gathered this morning for a warm farewell to pope benedict. some cardinals wants to speak to him for as long as possible. pope benedict will resign just after sunset. this home, this beautiful summer palace, quiet after a frantzic few weeks. >> at 8:00 exactly, he will stop being pope, the swiss guards who stand guard outside the palace and he'll go. >> reporter: rough seas he admitted yesterday and now the task begins of choosin

emotional hearing later on in the show. >>> meantime,popebenedictgotpretty personal and emotional in his public farewell today before tens of thousands packed into st. peters square. look at this. he said the catholic church is passing through stormy seas and said his tenure had difficult times. went to quote him, the lord seemed to sleep. pope benedict said he suffered over his decision to resign which will take effect tomorrow. >> i will continue to accompany the church with my prayers and i ask each of you to pray for me and for the new pope. >> he left his glass-topped popemobile waving to the cheering crowd, kissing some babies. it was an unusually candid speech from a pope often considered aloof and reserved. our chief international correspondent and anchor christiane amanpour joins me live from rome. christiane, were you surprised by pope benedict's personal message? >> reporter: well, yes, because a lot of people had said he would say prayers and perhaps he might have a little bit of a personal message interspersed because this would be his final general audience. but in fact, th

? >> all right, al. thank you. >>> now to rome andpopebenedict's finaldays as leader of the catholic church. moments ago the vatican announced new details about the pope's life after he steps down. let's get to nbc's anne thompson at the vatican this morning. anne, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. we now know what pope benedict will be called once he retires. if you run into him, you address him as his holiness, pope benedict xvi, or roman pontiff emeritus. he won't wear the white cape you've seen him wear as pope. and then those shoes that he's so very fond of, well, they go. he will have to switch to brown shoes. we understand he'll wear a pair he was given on a trip to mexico. all of those details are coming out as the world gets a glimpse of the sometimes ugly gamesmanship that goes on in this beautiful setting. cardinal keith o'brien, briton's highest ranking catholic and its only vote in the upcoming papal conclave is staying away, accused of improper behavior with four young priests going back to the 1980s, detailed in a british newspaper sunday that o

,000 people are expected to attend marches nationwide. >>popebenedictthexvi announced his retirement. >> ♪ this is the second to last prayer before he steps down. that only attracts a few thousand people. today, as can you see there, 150,000 people showed up. benedict will retire on february 28th. the vatican said they will try to choose a new pope sooner than expected so a pope will be in place by holy week. >> they are considering landmark legislation on immigration reform. >> they have a draft proposal from the white house and allow illegal immigrants to become permanent residents within eight years. >> there are 11 million illegal immigrants and they could apply for a newly created is visa. and provide more security funding by the immigration status of the new hires. >> a woman is in the hospital after being hit by a muni bus. >> it happened yesterday afternoon at lake merced boulevard. and the person had serious injuries. the muni driver is undergoing standard drug and alcohol tests. >> they are missing so much work and costing the agency millions of dollars. the san francisco

, is there more topopebenedict's suddendecision to step down? and who might replace him? is there any chance the next pope could be an american? we're live in vatican city with new details. >>> and nightmare, passengers on a cruise chip stranded in the gulf of mexico say conditions are getting worse and there's word this morning that their journey will be even longer "today," tuesday, february 12th, 2013. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >>> morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a tuesday morning. i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm matt lauer. important news breaking overnight. u.n. security council is going to hold an emergency meeting this morning to address north korea's overnight nuclear test. >> this is north korea's third nuclear test, but the first under its new leader, kim jong un. we'll have a live report from the pentagon straight ahead. >>> a big development in the story we've been following, two men now charged in connection with the murder of a 15-year-old chicago girl who performed at t

the vatican's plans to elect a new pope in the wake ofpopebenedict's surprisedecision to retire at the end of the month. rich richard engel is live in the vatican city. >> reporter: it's an act of humility and encourage to make way for a younger man. 24 hours later there's still shock in the vatican city. >> shocked. disappointed. sad. >> reporter: this morning roman catholics, tourists, even some church officials wondered if this can be a moment to revitalize the church after pope benedict xvi's unexpected decision to step down. >> personally i didn't agree with a lot of the things he believed and prepared. >> this will bring change for the church. >> reporter: in making his announcement the 85-year-old pontiff who has been looking frail asked for forgiveness. i have to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the min nus stri entrusted to me he told a gathering of cardinals in latin saying his advanced age forced the decision. just hours later these images circulated around the world. these are unusual times for the vatican. the last time a pope abdicated under similar circumstances

and the vatican this morning on ash wednesday.popebenedictisconducting his last- wednesday service fifth we will be back with more on the kron 4 morning news in just a minute. so she sees her allergist who has a receptionist susan, who sees that she's due for a mammogram. mary has one that day. that's when she finds out she has a tumor. she has a successful surgery and because her health provider has an amazing connected system, she has her life. i don't know what you have but i have kaiser permanente. kaiser permanente. thrive. >> welcome back to the kron 4 morning news we're tracking a new hot spot on the south peninsula in mountain view. it is on 101 south bound and shoreline and accident not cleared from the traffic lanes is still backing up the ride on 101. >> not only is it affecting the northbound ride and creating a visual hazard. it is slowing the south bound commute as you can see is backed up into redwood city almost to the turn off from the dumbarton bridge. erica. >> here is a quick look at your wednesday forecast. overcast conditions we will see sunshine to the afternoon 60s l

benedictthe'60s has made his first public appearance since a shocking announcement that he is stepping down as the head of the catholic church. >> daughter is a faithful flooded to the vatican today to see the pope. he thanked them in several languages and said he does not have the strength required to carry on. >> the vatican insisted no serious medical ailment was behind decision, though he had meant for the first time that the pope has had a pacemaker for years, and recently had the batterers replaced. kennedy also celebrate and ash wednesday mass marking the beginning thelent. >> coming oup on the kron 4 morning news pittsburgh police i'm is getting an overnight officer of shooting. a live report is coming up at 5:31 a.m.. burgeon america is offering a new nonstop service out of san francisco that at 5:40 a.m.. plus, a bay area surgeon that the sec charges--sex charges surgeon that the sec charges--sex charges involving a miwell, well, well. growing up, we didn't have u-verse. we couldn't record four shows at the same time. in my day, you were lucky if you could record two shows. a

.benedictthankedhis cardinals, colleagues and ordinary faithful for the support of respecting his decision to become the first open six of the year to resign. tens of thousands of people jammed the area to bid minute farewell. >> a new study finds that the number of young women being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer is on the rise. it is a trend not seen in older women. although the number of cases is still small, researchers find that more young women ages 25 best 39 are being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. the study covered cases over three decades. officials say more research needs to be done. doctors say early detection is key so is best for young women to a monthly self breast exam and get checked out right away if they find a lump. >> a new study that shows the majority of voters are opposed to renaming san francisco international airport after gay rights activist harvey milk. 61 percent of likely voters oppose the idea according to a poll conducted by, the chamber of commerce. harvey milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in california. the